In the early 1980s, the game of paintball
started with bolt-action pistols powered by disposable 12 gram CO2
cartridges.
It didn’t take long for the equipment to evolve to meet player demands
for more firepower. Lou Grubb set up a larger refillable CO2
tank on a paintball gun, and called it “constant air.” Tippmann Pneumatics
refined that idea by bringing the SMG-60 to the market, not only as the
first select fire paintgun long before most other manufacturers would evolve
from pump to semi-auto, but also integrating the refillable CO2
tank into the paintgun as a backbottle. The SMG-60’s CO2
tank didn’t need hoses and adaptors to hook up to the paintgun, it simply
screwed into an air system adapter (ASA) on the back of the receiver.
That arrangement of a screw in CO2 tank
set a standard that the sport has now been using for more than 20 years.

In
the mid 1990s, high pressure compressed air (HPA) became common place in
the sport as a higher performance alternative to CO2
that wasn’t as affected by cold weather. While these innovations
have given players the ability to fire more shots between reloads, they
both suffer a shortcoming that was not found in the simple disposable 12-gram
cartridges. Both systems require access to the gasses for refilling.
To perform fills, CO2 must be obtained
from industrial gas suppliers in large quantities, and high pressure air
must be obtained the same way, or produced with high pressure compressors
which cost thousands of dollars. For most paintball players with
a couple hours drive of an established paintball field or store this is
not much of an issue, they can just get fills when they go to play.

Many in the paintball industry have
long postulated that limited access to air and CO2
was restricting the growth of paintball. If players could pick up
a power source for their markers that was as easy to obtain as 12 gram
CO2 cartridges at a hardware store, but
could provide many shots like refillable tanks, then people living in remote
rural areas would be able to set up their own private fields to play with
friends and family.

With
the introduction of the C3, and “Propane Enhanced Performance,” Tippmann,
LLC has squarely addressed the fuel availability issue. The C3 is
a pump action paintgun which derives its name from its power source – C3H8,
also known as Propane [author’s note: See Mr. Mackey, I wasn’t sleeping
when you taught IUPAC nomenclature.]

Propane, a valuable fuel in its own
right, is actually produced as a by-product from two other fuels.
Propane, along with butane is removed from natural gas because of its tendency
to liquefy, something that would cause problems in natural gas systems.
It is also separated out of petroleum oil, as a part of the refining process
which produces gasoline, diesel, and other fuel products. While a
clear, odorless and non-toxic gas at room temperature propane liquefies
under moderate pressure, which allows much more of it to be stored in reasonably
sized containers – much like CO2 does at
about 10 times the pressure. Because it is usually stored and transported
as a liquid, propane is also often called LPG, or Liquified Petroleum Gas.

Propane’s primary value to American
consumers comes from the fact that it is flammable. It is used as
a clean burning fuel for everything from rural home water heaters, to portable
torches, backyard barbeque grills, and forklifts. Burning is an energetic
reaction. When propane is mixed with the proper ratio of oxygen,
and heated high enough, it will undergo an energetic oxidation reaction.
A single propane molecule will break apart, and recombine with five oxygen
(O2) molecules to produce three carbon
dioxide (CO2) and four water (H2O)
molecules and heat. Because the products of combustion are simply
carbon dioxide and water, propane is considered to be a clean burning fuel.

In
a typical paintball gun, the power behind the paintball comes from taking
a pressurized gas, and letting it expand, pushing the paintball down the
barrel as it does so. With Tippmann’s new PEP approach, the power
comes not from the storage pressure of the propane, but from the volume
of hot carbon dioxide and water vapor produced in a small controlled explosion.
It is these two gasses, which expand behind the ball, giving it speed.
In operation, the C3 is, in many ways similar to the internal combustion
engine of an automobile.

Availability and low cost are propane’s
attractors for use in paintball, and those it definitely has. Disposable
propane cylinders (they can be refilled, but refilled cylinders may not
be legally transported in a vehicle) are available at very reasonable prices
in almost all of the United States. Commonly used for camp stoves,
portable grills, camping lanterns, and torches, these tanks come pre-filled
in locations including hardware stores, camp supply stores, and even rural
grocery supply stores. In their literature announcing the C3, Tippmann
cited that a standard 16.4 ounce disposable propane tank will typically
cost three to eight dollars. While reviewing the C3, we picked up
a pair of 16.4 ounce tanks shrink wrapped together at a big box retail
store for just over three dollars – about a buck and a half a tank.

Compared
to disposable 12 gram CO2 cartridges that
yield a typical 20 to 30 shots in paintball pistols, the C3 gets appreciable
better mileage. Tippmann estimates that a single 16.4 ounce propane
tank provides enough fuel for 50,000 shots. To put that in perspective,
that is 25 cases of paintballs, a stack five boxes wide, and five boxes
tall. Looked at another way, if fired at the four ball per second
rate that Tippmann lists as the C5’s maximum rate of fire, it would take
just under three and a half hours of non-stop shooting enough paint to
fill the backseat of a car, to use up a tank that only cost a buck and
a half.

With the addition of a combustible fuel
to paintball come inevitable safety questions. Just how safe is propane
as a paintgun fuel compared to CO2?
From a pure pressure aspect, the propane has an advantage, which Tippmann
stresses in their literature. With only 80 to 120 psi of tank pressure
there is much less force involved with the possibility of a physical failure
of the tank, or a component of the paintgun. The risk comes with
the flammability. While many players voiced concern over this in
Internet forums when the C3 was announced, a look at the safety record
of the wide spread use of disposable propane cylinders in the US should
put things in perspective.

That
is not to say that the risks can be ignored. Following the precautions
in the C3 manual, and on the packaging for the propane cylinder are key.
Ever since having witnessed a neighbor’s house go up in flame after a floor
cleaner’s refillable propane cylinder leaked in their closed garage (ironically
the neighbor was in the business of cleaning up fire damage) this author
has been adamant about following a golden rule of propane use – never store
it in an enclosed space. By storing propane containers in a protected,
yet open non-living space, any minor amounts of gas which might leak from
the cylinder will simply drift away in the air, rather than concentrate
to levels with that critical 5 to one oxygen ratio at which point a source
of ignition spells trouble.

Another concern voiced in forums when
the C3 was announced was that it would be hazardous to fire it near a source
of ignition, such as a person smoking a cigarette. When the C3 fires,
it does not belch out propane. The propane is burned, and the CO2
and water vapor produced are not flammable, in fact both are used for fighting
fires. While it is true that a very small amount of unburned propane
is probably released (simply because no engine/system is perfect) it is
not a significant amount. The real concern would come from a leak
somewhere in the C3 venting propane. Fortunately an odorant is added
to commercial propane, making leaks easy to detect by smell.

Safe handling and storing the propane
tank off the paintgun, in a safe place also reduce the risks presented
by a leak. It is additionally important to note that full or partially
full propane cylinders are considered hazardous waste and should never
be disposed of through normal garbage collection. Proper cylinder
disposal varies in different parts of the country, here on the Space Coast
of Florida, it involves simply dropping them off for free at the hazmat
depot of the county landfill.

Another consideration of the new PEP
power source is legality. On Internet discussion forums many have
speculated that the use of combustion as a power source would cause the
C3 to be classified as a firearm, and subject it to firearm laws.
When asked about this, Tippmann’s public relations consultant provided
the following the following statement, "The C3 Marker is not deemed a firearm
because propane is not considered an explosive under federal law and because
its intended use is for sporting goods purposes only and therefore not
a ‘destructive device.’ Local laws do vary, however if a city or
state allows the sale of a CO2 marker,
than the C3 marker should be available for sale because it has the same
functionality and performance characteristics of an existing paintball
marker."

In use, the C3 is not much different
than any other pump action paintgun. A hopper is placed in the feed
port and filled with paintballs, the propane tank is screwed into the marker,
and it is pumped and fired. At about two and a quarter inches, the
C3 has what is for paintguns, a rather long but light pump stroke.
This is because the pumping action does more than simply chamber the paintball,
it also clears the combustion chamber, activates a fuel injector, and uses
suction to draw fresh air into the chamber, mixing it with the propane.

The
C3’s construction is a conglomeration of metals, polymers and composite.
The main combustion tube and most of the internal combustion related components
are made of aluminum, steel and brass. A molded plastic frame fits
over this, aligning the barrel with the receiver, and forming the grip
frame, which holds the electronic ignition system and AAA battery.
It should be noted that a battery is included, already installed in the
C3.

The trigger guard, which fits into the
two halves of the frame is identical to that of a Tippmann 98 Custom.
This means that changing guards, and triggers to a two finger trigger is
relatively straightforward.

The
barrel – a 14 inch unported model with an angled breech and wire style
ball detent seems shorter than it is, because the breech sits so far back
on the C3’s receiver. On the top of the barrel and receiver are basic
iron sights, the rear sight being easily adjusted for elevation.
On the back of the C3 is an opening for simple velocity adjustment, which
is performed with a straight slot screwderiver.

The
C3 is set up for right handed feed. The feedneck angles out from
the breech at roughly a 45 degree angle. Like their other hopper
fed paintguns, Tippmann has built an angled end and receiver for a hopper
into the C3’s feedneck. It is rare for a manufacturer of a right
hand feed to do this, but since Tippmann has designed it in, there is no
need for a feed elbow to be added.

Surprisingly unlike their other hopper
fed paintguns, Tippmann does not include a hopper with the C3, leaving
hopper selection up to the end customer.

The C3 is packaged with retail store
sales in mind. Its box consists of a vacuformed clear plastic clamshell
keeping all of the components in place, surrounded by an open front cardboard
box to keep the overall shape rectangular and easy to stack or stand up
for display. In addition to the paintgun, Tippmann includes the owner’s
manual, a pair of hex wrenches, tube of paintgun oil, and a Straight Shot
squeegee. Tippmann was the first large scale manufacturer to include
squeegees, bundling pull through types with many of their earlier paintball
guns. The recent purchase of the Straight Shot name and design from
inventor Tom Harrison made the inclusion a natural for Tippmann, and a
good practical step as a pull-through squeegee would be difficult to use
without removing the C3’s barrel.